New Years Resolution: More Plants For Birds

January 2, 2014

My New Year resolution is to remember our fine feathered friends in 2014. (I am inclined to go this route rather than the typical, “eat right”, “more exercise”, “be a better husband”, etc. etc. because I am already doing all those other things… notice I did not resolve to refrain from exaggeration).

We love watching birds eat all the hanging fruit on our Crabapples, Serviceberries, Hawthorns and Winterberries. There are so many more plants we can select to help attract birds.

If you decide to plant Winterberries, just know that you will need to plant both male and female plants to get the large quantity of berries you see on this female Winterberry bush at our former home in Ohio.

The show never ends, especially since all of our “bird plantings” are supplemented by year-round bird feeding stations.

So this year the resolution is to plant more of the plants that attract birds to our very own wild bird refuge. If you decide to take a similar pledge, just do an internet search using key words: birds, plants and your state. For example, here are links that I found for several states that provide geographical plant lists to help attract birds (click each state to view suggestions): Ohio, Colorado, Texas, Georgia.